Attachment for printed imitation-type-written letters.



E. KIRKBRIDE.

ATTACHMENT. FOR PRINTED IMITATION TYPE WRITTEN LETTERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. I91?- Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

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EDMUND KIRKBRIDE, 0F CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO HIMSELF AND ONE-HALF T0 CHARLES P. HALYBURTON, 0F GAMDEN, NEW JERSEY.

ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTED IMIT'ATION-TYPE-WRITTEN LETTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1918.

Application filed May 9, 1917. Serial No. 167,589.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND Kiniraninn, a citizen of the United States,'res1d1ng at 104 N. Sixth street, Camden, in the countyof Camden and State of New Jersey, have 1nvented a certain new and useful Attachment for Printed Imitation-Type-Vritten Letters, of which the following is a specificat1on The purpose of my invention is to s mplify and perfect the mechanism by whlch ink ribbons are supported and are fed across the type of printing machines for the purpose of imitating typewritten letters.

A further purpose is to reduce the t1me, expense and trouble of applylng rlbbon attachments to printing machines. I

A further purpose is to apply long1tud1- nally movable ribbons as d1st1ngu1shed from ribbons movable transversely, to 0b press gripper bars, obtaining all the advantages of the transversely movable ribbons along with a more adequate ribbon supply.

Further purposes will appear in the specification and claims thereof.

I have preferred to illustrate my invention by but one general form among the various forms in which it may be applied, selecting one which use has proved to be practicable, eificient and inexpensive and which at the same time well illustrates the principles of my invention.

Figure l, is a side elevation of a printlng press embodying the preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section of the gripper construction in Fig. 1, taken parallel to the plane of the paper and looking toward the observer.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the gr ppers, ribbon and ribbon holdmg construction carried thereby shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevation of the construction shown in Flg. 1.

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 2, showing mounting for an additional ribbon.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective of the construction shown in Fig. 5.

The same numerals are applied to corresponding parts in this specification.

Where there has been attempt to use ribbons movable in a general upward and downward direction across the type of job printing presses, the mechanism involved has been very much in the way, has involved considerable delay and trouble in application and has required and exposed to the dust a ribbon of excessive length, because of the long distances between the rollers utilized, and

has been expensive. In the only form attaining any commercial success, the application of the mechanism has rendered the press unsuitable for use as an ordinary job press.

My invention disclosed in Patent 943,423 of March 29th, 1910, mounted the ribbon rollers parallel with the grippers for the.

are mounted upon strips corresponding in position and other characteristics with the grippers while securing all the advantage of vertical movement of the ribbon possessed by previous vertically movable ribbon constructions.

Compositions intended for reproduction in imitation of typewriting are much more nearly uniform intheir width across the page than in the direction of the page length. There is therefore an advantage in having a vertically movable ribbon in that the full width of the ribbon is utilized in the printing operation for a large proportion of the jobs thereon; and as a result very little difi'erence appears in the freshness of the ribbon at the center and at the ends of th lines.

I designates the frame of the printin mechanism, of which the drive shaft is shown at 2 operating through ear 3 upon a gear 4 mounted on shaft 5. l he usual bed 6, pivoted at 7, is oscillated by arm 8'from crank pin 9. The platen 10 is operatively connected with a roller 11 which fits into and follows a cam groove 12 within the inner face of gear 4 to operate the platen. Grippers 13 upon gripper bars 13 are swung about pivot 14 by engagement of roller 15 with gripper cam 16.

All of this mechanism is old and well known except that the grippers shown are extended at both ends beyond the usual gripper length for the purpose of carrying the rolls and guides for the ribbon.

The grippers shown are forwardly turned at the top at 17 and rearwardly turned at the bottom at 18 to conveniently support spools 1.9 and'20 upon which the ribbon 21 is Wound. The spools are mounted upon shafts 22, 23 which turn in suitable bearings 24:. One end of each shaft is extended to carry ratchet wheels 25 and 26, respectively, and

these wheels are held, against reverse movement, one at a time, by latches 27, 28, which may be turned out of engagement when de sired. Drags 29, prevent too free unwinding of the spools when the latches are out of engagement. It is not ordinarily necessary 'to use these drags.

At opposite. ends'olf oscillating movement of grippers 13 the respective ratchet wheels 25 and'QG-are brought in position to engage spoolswith respect to the'plane of the grippers, I prefer to pass the ribbon over or under, as the case may be, rollers 33, 34:, de-

fining a plane for the ribbon between the rollers which is suitable for the work and is not affected by the fullness of the ribbon upon the rollers, avoiding the angular shifting of the ribbon plane which would take place if the ribbon ran directly from tangent position on the one roll to tangent position on the other.

' It will be obvious that the spools could be mounted across from one gripper bar to the other and that the location of or use of p'awls, latches and drags are detailsnot affecting the broader aspects of my invention. =1 have shown the pawl 31 as mounted upon a bracket 35 upon the back of the platen and the pawl 32 as mounted upon a. strap 36 on the bed frame 6, selecting merely convenient positions for the'parts. I have not considered it necessary to illustrate the mechanism by which the'pawls and latches are so mounted is to be swung from opera- --tixve'to: inoperative positions, as such con structlons are well known lnthe art.

'This application concerns primarily the mounting of the ink ribbon. It is my intention to apply for patent uponaprocess and apparatus for giving a press-copied appear ance to printed imitations of typewriting in which a dampening ribbon .is introduced between the ink ribbon and the type. It is also of value in more closely duplicating the work of a particular typewriter upon which the letters are tobe filled in and which may not be sharp in its impressions, as additional ribbon thickness can be given for this purpose. Because of these, and in order to show that my present invention is capable of operationwith either single or double ribbon, as preferred, 1 have shown in Figs. 5 and 6 a construction in which two ribbons are mounted in the same general manner and for the same general purpose 'asin the form illustrated in Figs. 1-to 4.

The'second ribbon, '37 follows the lineof the first, over one guiding roller and-under the other,keeping the two ribbons'in-conta'ct throughout their expos'edlengths. I- prefer 'to wind it upon'its spool 38 in the opposite direction to the winding of thefirst ribbon, so that the shafts carrying thetwos'pools at each end can begearedtogether-simply, by pairs of gears 39, 40 and 11', 12,"to feed the ribbons'together. This is'best seen in Figs. 5 and 6. '1he two ribbons arethus fed in the same direction and at equalfspe'ed "by the same pawl and ratchet mechanism as is used to feed a single'ribbon. Theseco'nd ribbon may be'us'ed to thickenthe ribbon merely or to moistenthe i'nk ribbonto pro- 'duce the appearance ofpress-copied 'work.

It will be evident that reversal of the positions of the two spools, w-ithout changing their shafts, will permit feeding in thesame direction all-the time, always upwardlyor always downward-1y, 'avoiding-the use'of the second feeding mechanism.

It will be evident that l my 'mech'a'nismis simple and complete'and that when-attached it does not interfere "with the norn'ialuse 'of the ink rolls of the press.

Having thus described my inventiomwhat I claim as'new anddesire to s'ecure'by 'Let ters Patent is: y

1. In a device'of the character stated, a

'printing'platen, a type bed, a printing --ribbon between the bed and platen, a moistening ribbon between theprintingribbon and the bed and means for moving oneof'the ribbons over the'face 'ofthebed. I

2. In a device of-the characterstated, a press having abed and platen, mechanism for moving a printing'ribbon through the space between them, a moistener for sa-id printingribbon and mechanism for moving the moistener substantially paralleF- to the ribbon.

3. In'a device of the character stated; a

' press' provided with a bed and a-pla-ten in combination with roller ribbon 1 holdin mechanism, amoistened ribbon as distinguished -from a printing ribbon andrn'eans for progressing itthrough the space between the bed and platen.

a. In a device of the character stated, a press provided with a bed and a platen in combination with a printing ribbon and a moistening ribbon extending within the space between them and means for progressing the two ribbons.

5. In a device of the character stated, a press having a bed and a platen, grippers therefor, a pair of rollers at each end of the grippers, gearing connecting the rollers in each pair, means for turning one of the rollers in one of the pairs, two ribbons, each extending from one roll of the one pair to one roll of the other pair and a common guide for the ribbons at each end adjoining the pairs of rolls.

6. In a device of the character stated, a press having a bed and a platen, grippers therefor, a pair of ribbons adapted to be moved across the space between the bed and platen, mounts for the ribbons, and means for moving the ribbons in the same direction and at approximately the same speed.

EDMUND KIRKBRIDE.

Witnesses:

J. LUTHERIA KAUFFMAN, G-ERTRUDE BADER.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of 2mm, Washington, D. Q." 

